Basquiat: Boom for Real

21 Sept-28 Jan. The Barbican holds Britain's first large-scale exhibition dedicated to the New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat whose colourful and controversial career was cut short in 1988 at the age of 27. Described as an "exhilarating glimpse behind the myth", the show features paintings, rare film, photography and archive material relating to the artist whose mixed-media work confronted issues including power structures, social inequality and racism. Ahead of the exhibition opening, the anonymous street artist known as Banksy created Basquiat-inspired murals on the walls of the Barbican, generating enormous publicity for the show. See related article.